Roomba developer iRobot looking to sell owner's room data to Apple to bolster HomeKit
Home automation company iRobot is looking at mapping user's houses with permission using newer version of the Roomba, and selling that data to Apple, Amazon, and Google.

According to a report on Monday by Reuters, the new Roomba will measure the dimensions of a room, as well as furniture orientation, size of the devices, and where they are located in the room. This will be accomplished by simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) technology implemented in the 2015 revision of the technology.
The 900-series Roomba added a camera, a new sensor suite, and new software to accomplish the task. This gives the vacuum cleaner the ability to stop vacuuming and recharge, then resume the job at the same spot -- but also the room mapping ability as well.
Cornell University robotics Professor Guy Hoffman told Reuters that regularly updated maps could allow hardware manufacturers to tailor acoustics in products like the HomePod, alter ventilation airflow for optimal environment on a room-to-room and hour-to-hour basis, and smart lighting could adjust according to time of day and position of fixture.
The data could be of interest to Apple, Amazon, and Google to use the data in their software and services, or to suggest a new home automation product to fill a service gap. None of the companies named commented on the report.
Any data collation and sale induces concerns about privacy issues. However, iRobot CEO Colin Angle said that the company would not sell the data without permission -- but believes that customers would give consent willingly in order to use the SLAM technology embedded in the cleaners.
"There's an entire ecosystem of things and services that the smart home can deliver," said Angle. "Once you have a rich map of the home that the user has allowed to be shared."
The original Roomba was introduced in September 2002. There have been seven generations of Roomba units since launch, with only the latest generation sporting the SLAM technology that can feed detailed cleaning maps through the supporting app.

According to a report on Monday by Reuters, the new Roomba will measure the dimensions of a room, as well as furniture orientation, size of the devices, and where they are located in the room. This will be accomplished by simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) technology implemented in the 2015 revision of the technology.
The 900-series Roomba added a camera, a new sensor suite, and new software to accomplish the task. This gives the vacuum cleaner the ability to stop vacuuming and recharge, then resume the job at the same spot -- but also the room mapping ability as well.
Cornell University robotics Professor Guy Hoffman told Reuters that regularly updated maps could allow hardware manufacturers to tailor acoustics in products like the HomePod, alter ventilation airflow for optimal environment on a room-to-room and hour-to-hour basis, and smart lighting could adjust according to time of day and position of fixture.
The data could be of interest to Apple, Amazon, and Google to use the data in their software and services, or to suggest a new home automation product to fill a service gap. None of the companies named commented on the report.
Any data collation and sale induces concerns about privacy issues. However, iRobot CEO Colin Angle said that the company would not sell the data without permission -- but believes that customers would give consent willingly in order to use the SLAM technology embedded in the cleaners.
"There's an entire ecosystem of things and services that the smart home can deliver," said Angle. "Once you have a rich map of the home that the user has allowed to be shared."
The original Roomba was introduced in September 2002. There have been seven generations of Roomba units since launch, with only the latest generation sporting the SLAM technology that can feed detailed cleaning maps through the supporting app.
Comments
Got a good question, why would the Roomba need access to the Internet? It's really not needed.
I upgraded from an 800-series thinking that the camera would allow it to remember and learn over time. I was actually disappointed to learn that it "forgets" what it learned after each cycle "in the interest of privacy" so that each time it starts cleaning, it has to learn all over again.
Each time it cleans, it does a very good job at mapping my home (as can be seen on the app), but it always gets stuck or shuts down in the same places. If it would remember map data, it would know, "I got stuck here before, so I'm going to avoid this area".
The worst part is that I have a few rugs with black stripes in my single-story home. Every time it encounters one of those black stripes, the cliff sensors shut it down. There's no way to (reliably and without voiding the warranty) disable the cliff sensors. There should be a setting to turn these off for single-story homes - there is NOTHING in my home (and many other homes) for it to possibly fall off of!
iRobot has no sympathy regarding the design oversight.
Amazon are probably thinking they could sell you a cheap robot and not only could it gather this data but it could also buy stuff from Amazon for you.
Apple are probably thinking 'yuck, we don't need to or want to know this stuff'.
This kind of story could be an effort to motivate investors. Basically, the message 'we are going to make Apple, Google and Amazon our customers' is exactly what makes some investors see $$$$.
"Any data collation and sale induces concerns about privacy issues. However, iRobot CEO Colin Angle said that the company would not sell the data without permission"
On the other hand, they would be interested in this why? Maybe size of house correlates with propensity to buy ... anything?
Looking for Apple to disavow this idea ASAP, I'm sure they annoyed by the "Roomba reveal"
Selling my data after I've bought their machine is a shitty thing.
Shame. I love my 800-series. But this throws a bad light on the company, even if they do ask.